Garantex crypto exchange admin arrested while on vacation
In a shocking turn of events, Indian authorities have arrested Aleksej Besciokov, the co-founder and one of the administrators of the Russian Garantex crypto-exchange, while he was on vacation with his family in Varkala, India. This arrest comes as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged money laundering activities of Garantex.
Brian Krebs, a prominent infosec journalist, first reported on Tuesday that Besciokov, a 46-year-old Lithuanian national and Russian resident, was apprehended by Kerala state police officers under the country's extradition law. Besciokov controlled Garantex with his Russian counterpart, Aleksandr Mira Serda, between 2019 and 2025.
According to court documents, Besciokov and Serda were allegedly aware that their crypto exchange was used to launder criminal proceeds and facilitate various crimes, including hacking, ransomware, drug trafficking, and terrorism. The U.S. Justice Department claims that they attempted to hide the crypto exchange's involvement in facilitating illegal activities.
One day earlier, on Thursday, the U.S. Secret Service and the DOJ seized multiple Garantex domains (Garantex[.]org, Garantex[.]io, and Garantex[.]academy) and servers hosting its operations in a joint operation with German and Finnish law enforcement authorities. The U.S. Secret Service also obtained earlier copies of Garantex's servers, including customer and accounting databases, as well as froze over $26 million in funds used by Garantex to facilitate money laundering activities.
The crypto exchange was also forced to suspend services on Thursday after Tether blocked its digital wallets following European Union sanctions targeting the crypto-exchange as part of its 16th package of Russian sanctions, levied against 542 individuals and entities. Garantex was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2022 after transactions worth over $100 million were linked to darknet markets and cybercrime actors.
Blockchain analysis company Elliptic reported on Friday that since its sanction, Garantex has transacted over $96 billion, with over $60 billion of those transactions taking place since it was sanctioned. This highlights the significant role Garantex played in facilitating sanctions evasion by Russian elites and laundering proceeds of crime.
The arrest of Besciokov and Serda marks a significant blow to the alleged money laundering activities of Garantex. The U.S. Justice Department has charged both individuals with facilitating money laundering for criminal organizations, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
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